Joseph Lightner was the 18th head football coach for the Dickinson College Red Devils

Dickinson College

Dickinson College is a private, residential liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally established as a Grammar School in 1773, Dickinson was chartered September 9, 1783, five days after the signing of the Treaty of Paris, making it the first college to be founded in the newly...

 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

Carlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...

 and he held that position for three seasons, from 1923 until 1925. His overall coaching record at Dickinson was 17 wins, 7 losses, and 2 ties. This ranks him ninth at Dickinson in terms of total wins and second at Dickinson in terms of winning percentage.

Lightner took over the second half of the 1923 season after B. Russell Murphy

B. Russell Murphy

Benjamin Russell Murphy was an American athlete, coach, and athletics administrator during the early 20th century. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he coached at numerous schools in several sports including football, basketball and track. Murphy was the first basketball coach at...

 resigned with an 0-2 start.

Professional athlete

Lightner played football professionally in 1922 for the Frankford Yellow Jackets

Frankford Yellow Jackets

The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, though its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL championship in 1926...

 before the team joined the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He also played baseball professionally for the Reading in the International League

International League

The International League is a minor league baseball league that operates in the eastern United States. Like the Pacific Coast League and the Mexican League, it plays at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball. It was so named because it had teams in both the United States...

.